Hugo Koblet - Pédaleur de Charme

Swiss Walt Disney is coming out with the new Hugo Koblet film, Hugo Koblet - Pédaleur de Charme and I can't wait!

Sono Bartaliano... quasi

The Legnano is on the shelf for a couple of weeks. It seems I need to re-space the wheel or spread the rear triangle. The rear hub was a tight fit by 4mm and as it moves back and forth in the dropouts, it needs to fit just so. Unfortunately, it comes as I'm headed to the US to work for a bit. Oh well. I also have developed some pain in my wrist when I ride the old narrow handlebars with weird hand positions. Oh well.

The good news is that I'm able to shift fairly well at this point. I just need to get some good legs in the next 2 months before l'Eroica. Looks like I'll be resuming training on the new bikes again.

I found this chair at a start village at the Tour this year. I was also sent a great piece of digital artwork of l'intramontabile shifting a cambio corsa while climbing. Anyone know who did this, or where I can get a nice print?

A few weeks ago, I ran into an old Italian Coppisti who lambasted me for my Legnano... being a Coppi fan, a Bianchi was the only legitimate bike of the era. We argued for quite a while on the point, even though I had no real reason to... but he was Italian so I think I made his day.

Tour Rest Day: Pau, 1947/2010

Never one to shy away from the crowd of fans, I decided to go for a ride with the Liquigas boys yesterday. Of course, I brought the Legnano with me, which means full on retro clothes and the rest. To fully appreciate the technology of today, don't you need to understand the tech from the past? In the old days, riders actually had to think and plan before shifting! Everyone was quite interested in the cambio corsa and I tried to explain it as best as I could in Italian, French and English. 'My' mechanics Arco and Gian Carlo, who helped me with finding certain parts, were amazed that I built this thing up myself and that it works. Of course, they gave me loads of crap, all in good fun (I think).

Since the Liquigas guys were on a rest day, they were going to go for only an hour and a half. I figured I could stay with them even with my limited gearing. Once we got out into the countryside, you could hear me coming from a mile away - my alloy waterbottles bouncing around in their cages on the rough roads.

At one point, the guys stopped for a nature break. I kept going, taking the opportunity to shift gears safely. Unfortunately, they decided to turn around. Luckily, Francesco Bellotti came to get me. We chased - me spinning as fast as I could in my 40/14 - and finally got back on. Time to shift back to the 16, since the 14 was making some noise. I think the chain was a bit too tight for this ride - gotta look into it. ZZZIIINNNGGG - my fingers touched the rear tire slightly, but loud enough that Roman Kreuziger heard from behind and came up next to me with a big smile. "I knew you'd do that! You better be careful or you'll lose a finger in that wheel!" A good thing to remember, indeed!

1948 Legnano Cambio Corsa, Finished & Ready for L'Eroica!

Six months of patient waiting, research, eBay'ing and obsessing over restoring this jewel have paid off. Ciöcc proudly finished the paint and decals this past week, so yet another quick drive down on the weekend was in order. He reminded me for the n'th time that it was he who build the Legnano that Fondriest won his world title on in 1988, so he had the formula for the correct shade of Legnano green. I made a late decision to go with only the true decals once I saw the color, so I left a few off to make it a bit more 'period correct'. The build went quite easily and on Sunday morning, it was ready for its maiden voyage.

I donned my replica Legnano wool jersey (and a smartwool undershirt to ease the itching) and headed out into the 26 degree (C) heat with a huge smile on my face. The first shift of the cambio corsa wasn't so hot. You can see in the first photo that the chain had a bit of slack in it (not real easy to set this up in a stand - you need weight on the wheel). I quick tug on the rear wheel and I was ready to try again and to my surprise, it works! It not only works, it works quite well! For two hours, I rode around the French countryside with limited gearing, grinding up the rolling hill with my four speeds, drinking from my two alloy bottles. I can't say that I can shift this thing as well as Bartali (or even Aldo, for that matter), but I'm pretty confident that experience will pay off. Remember - open the wheel qr lever, backpedal, shift the smaller lever, close the qr, pedal forward. When it shifts, the wheel will "walk" up or down the dropout to tension your chain... awesome stuff from Vicenza!

What surprised me is how well this antique rides. Those guys clearly knew what they were doing back in the day. The long wheelbase, long rake and stable geometry was designed for the days when roads were rough - no hands is super easy on this, even with the water ballast hanging off my handlebars. It was Masi who pulled the seatpost out of the frame and started what we now know as "modern geometry". The only thing that worries me about putting this thing through 200km is the unforgiving hand position. The track bend is sweet, but the bars are really thin, and the cloth tape just isn't doing my palms any justice.

PS - the head tube badge I found is just off. Evidently, it takes a slightly larger badge. I'm now on the hunt. Luckily, I have a virtual friend in Nove Ligure who is a Legnano expert!

Before-during-after photos are on my flickr page.

Covering the Tour... Read my reports!

So the Masini family has packed up and headed to Holland/Belgium/France to cover the Tour de France. After hosting some American friends (and spouses!) in Rotterdam, we've hit the road and will be covering the first week of racing. That means: early mornings, repacking the car (lots of doggie luggage), frantically navigating the GPS to the start, sitting in traffic, negotiating with the police to let me 'in' the designated area (thanks for the sticker, Stefano), breakfast at the start village... and then the mad dash for the finish line or next hotel room and internet connection!

You can read most of my stage updates on Cannondale's Liquigas page and also follow us from the road via Twitter (the dogs don't have an account... yet).

Restoration Update

So Ciöcc finally has everything he needs to finish my two old frames. I hope to pick them up next week after getting back from the Tour. Having finally found all the packages sent by me and others, we now have the proper Legnano and Galmozzi decals to finish them up. I say 'proper' loosely, as this is a subject I'll likely receive some grief over once they're built... and I'm calling it now! You see, the thing with collectors is that their discussions rarely get past whether something is "original" or "restored" or "period correct". In my case, I really don't care that much. I'm restoring these babies to do one thing... RIDE 'EM!

That Galmozzi decal with the address would most likely not be found on a bike made in the 50's. Guess what? I don't care - I like it, and it will look great adorning my seat tube! The head tube badge is a repro. Guess what - ALL collectors in Italy tell me that my chances of finding a real one are about nil.

The '47 Legnano would not have chrome on the dropouts, or at least four of the decals that I'm going to place on it. But, it's going to look SO much nicer with them.

The point is, these things lost their resell value to collectors the moment I found them without their original paint. So... Jimmy crack corn! Another point I've learned is that back then, large decals weren't easy to make reliably, so bike graphics weren't the advertising that they are today. Also, they didn't make these bikes knowing that they'd be so desirable sixty years later. Lots of detail has been lost through the years. What crank did Cannondale spec on a 2002 R1000? I bet you can find that answer within five minutes of a Google search. Now - what brakes would you find on a 1952 Roma? Guess what - Legnano most likely ran out and switched to whatever was lying around!

Other things not likely to find for a reasonable price? Jerseys and bottles. So, check out what you CAN find on a trip to Tuscany. Seems l'Eroica has been good for those able to reproduce certain desirables!

OK, off the soapbox now, and off to the Tour!

Meeting the Badger in 2005

It was at the start of stage 2 of the 2005 Tour in Challans. We were at the start village and I had just gulped down a series of oysters (my mother would be proud) when I caught a glimpse of him... over there... no, now he's over there! Mrs. Masini didn't know exactly 'who' 'he' was, but I'm pretty sure she knew he was some famous old cyclist, as I am not usually starstruck by the current crop! She was right, and here is my moment in time with the Badger!

And now... I'm off for Rotterdam! Forza Basso, forza Kreuziger, forza Cannondale!

The US Cycling Hall of Fame

Some catching up here... Back in May, during the Tour of California, I was invited to a private tour of the US Cycling Hall of Fame in Davis, CA by my good friend (and fellow collector) Richard Bryne of Speedplay. I joined Richard and his lovely wife Sharon after the finish in Sacramento for what was a great evening of talking old bikes and US cycling history. Richard is a wealth of knowledge and took great pride in explaining the finer points of history and the machines on display.

I'll try not to post what in essence could be a 'virtual tour' but I'll limit it to my own personal highlights. Here we go...

I'm a huge fan of the Major Taylor story. I won't even try to do him justice in such a small forum, but instead will lead those interested to here and here. To see one of his bikes on display was awe-inspiring. In the days of Jim Crow laws, this man was the first African American world champion in any sport - at a time when cycling in America was bigger than baseball!

The other thing that caught my eye was a corner loaded with six-day items and a video and write-up of how the six-day turned into the Madison.

Finally, this quote is taken from the earliest patent for a bicycle, granted to Pierre Lallement November 20, 1866. And this is what is as intriguing as what's on display here... the mountains of paperwork, clippings and magazines that are archived and hidden away!

Of course, there was a cambio corsa bike on display which I ogled, the actual Hall of Fame plaques upstairs, the REALLY old and strange stuff and of course the more modern US racing history. I'll leave all that uncovered here and let you find out for yourself. If you're a bike nut and ever near Sacramento, make the short trip to Davis and check out what's sure to be an important collection of cycling history. Oh yeah... thanks again, Richard!

As Joel Says, 'I'm eatin' wet food tonight!'

Took the opportunity to do some vintage shopping at Via Bicycle in Philly this morning... WOW! I was able to pick up some Universal & Balilla parts for the Legnano retoration, plus a 'hairnet' in great condition. The collection is incredible, if you're into piles of classic old bikes and parts (which I am).

Giro Wrap Up

Can it really be that LG won the Giro and I failed to write anything more after Amsterdam? Well, I WAS doing the ToC thing, and I did cover the Giro best I could from the road on that 'other' website.

So I did the first day of the Giro, and the last. While on a short vaca/long weekend staying at a friend's 15th century villa in Tuscany (thanks to my lovely Mrs.), we hustled up to Verona to cover the last stage. Nothing too memorable... other than the awards ceremony in the Roman arena, and our front-row seats! Photo and video duties called, so we made the best of it... and it was pretty damn good.

Afterwards, we waited for all the riders to come by in order to congratulate everyone and sip the champagne, and then headed straight back to Florence. Yeah, we skipped the party, but sometimes it's better to duck out.

Of course, I'm super happy for the team and especially for Ivan, who proved himself a true champion and completed a great comeback/redemption. I called him the other day to set up a visit to our Dutch HQ and congratulated him immediately... but not for the Giro win... for the announcement of his third child!